I wanted to provide you an update regarding Dermablend and Covermark products. I recently visited Ulta Beauty which are salons that sell cosmetic products. The sales lady was very helpful and provided me with suggestions to cover my Nevus of Ota. Her recommendations were to use Dermablend Tatto and Leg body primer. It goes on really well and covers really well. She also suggested that I buy a concealer and powder brush to even the make up out. I also bought some other powder that goes really well with the type of skin that I have. With the help of my wife I have been applying it for the past week and people cannot tell that I am wearing make up. It took me a while to accept the fact that I have to wear makeup because I am a guy but if women do it to better themselves then why can't men? I feel more confident now but I will still be visiting Dr. Nelson from the Laser Institute to find out if this can be permanently removed.

Hi I'm Irish, Caucasian, 35 years old and stumbled upon this website. Cant believe there are actualy other people with the same thing as me! i have been asked numerous time 'what happened your eye?'did you get a black eye?' mine covers the white of my right eye, skin below the eye, above it and on the temple. Just like someone else on this forum described it. I only found out the name of it last year! when i was a child, my mother used to bring me to an ophthalmologist every year to keep..excuse the pun..an eye on it.

Yes i am conscious of it and would like to get rid of it..hence my searching on the net. But the weird thing is some people dont notice it..i was never once bullied about it in school. Every day i wear make up to hide skin part but of course there is not much can be done for the actual eye... Anyhow its never affected my life to be honest. i have been successful in my professional life .

i'm single at 35 but i cant blame the birthmark!!!

but for sure it has affected my confidence with opposite sex.To be honest..not one guy i have dated noticed it until i pointed it out! One said 'are you a freak or are you unique?' We both laughed and went out for ages afterwards. Anyhow im going to keep getting the black eye comments but i was hoping there might be a white contact lens on the market that covers the white of the eye. I meet clients everyday at work and i sometimes can see them looking at the eye. Thanks for the recommendation of dermablend and the posts from people who have tried laser therapy. Very helpful. I use a concealer white is excellent and i am going to start experimenting with eye make up. As someone else said on a previous posts ' im not a make up girl'. This describes me but it does work wonders! I live in Ireland so travel and money are obviously a big issue for me to see Dr Neilson. Presently i have other health problems i need to sort first before i can attend to the nevus of Ota. But i am so grateful for everyone sharing their stories. I have relatives in the U.S so i could combine a holiday and doctor visit if affordable of course, best wishes, marion

Hello everyone. My name is Steffi. I am 24 years old and i am Haitian American. I did not find out until much later in life (when i was 17) what the birthmark on my face was. I lived in Haiti for a long time and came to the US often for the summer. My parents took me to so many doctor and none of them knew what it was. I saw eye doctors, pediatrician, dermathologists, and even neurologists. My birthmark is on the right side of my face. Covers most of my face all the way down to the cheek almost at the chin, my right ear and inside my right eye as well. One day i went to an ophthalmologist and he diagnosed it by my next visit. To this day i am thankful to him for finally giving me a name to what it was.
When i was little i endured alot of teasing. Adults said i was cursed by the devil (Haitians are very superstitious), kids called me every name in the book from 2 face to alien. My parents endured looks from their peers who said that the reason i was cursed was because of my mom and it always made her feel terrible. My parents did their best and never treated me any different than my brothers and my brothers protected me fiercely. I started doing laser surgery at the age of 18. After 2 sessions i decided to stop. My parents could not afford it and wanted to take out loans to pay for it. I came to the realization after 2 sessions that i was fine with it. I had lived with it for 18 years and i can honestly say i would miss it if it were gone. I don't use any make up to cover it up. I like to use it as a jerk filter I have made great friends who accept me for who i am. I have yet to fall in love but that's my own doing. I have been very career and school focused for so long.
I have never met anyone with a birthmark on the face like me. I am glad to know that i'm not alone. Pleased to meet all of you. Feel free to email me if you want to chat bigstefjj2@yahoo.com

hello I am 42 years old and doctors always told me I had a port wine stained. Wrong I just discovered I have a Nervus of Ota large one I shall say I am Mexican-American not Asian. It's very dark in my left eye one whole side of my left face and into my hair. I have been using CoverMark by Lydia O'Lairly make up it's great waterproof I can get most of it covered. You do know people are cure and they will always stare and say comments why do you wear so much makeup and I learned to ignore.

Hello,,would like to reply to Dee,I have that birthmark and Omgosh I thought I was the only one on this earth that had it,I use make-up and I'm never seen without it Xcept my kids,use to get asked is that a black eye you have, I never felt normal,still with low self esteem,wish I coul afford to get it removed so I could feel better about myself,I'm a single Mom of 5, I hope to hear from PPL with same problem bcause I understand hoe one feels! I want to be noticed for me not my birthmark! Minn

hi there am 28 yrs old male.i live in asia, Philippines. i saw quite few people on the street who had this.. we just stare each when we pass by.. some are shy and other don't mind.. i search on internet and now i knew what type of birthmark i have.

here in my country they said it was a jinx or badluck.. it's very hard to grew with this in my county.. can i ask what brand of makeup do you apply so i can use it on occasion.. i really hate when people ask me about my birthmark and they always laugh.

i see a doctor and try to put bleaching cream but it only makes it visible.. i want to try some other treatment. pls share if there's another way to remove these. does laser really remove these?? tnx in advance

Hello,
I was searching the interweb for laser surgery recovery times and came upon this site. I've read all 5 pages so far and I can relate as I have the same condition on right eye called Nevus of Ota. Mine also looks like a black eye and worse, part of the white area of my right eye is blue. I would say this condition has greatly worsened my life, made me anti-social and depressed and I used to feel hopeless, lonely and suicidal. But, now that I am older with experience, there are real solutions to cope and even to get significant improvements.

Here are some solutions I have tried and researched over the years. I am 38 male, Chinese btw.

Laser treatment:
- I've had 6-8 treatments spread out over 3 doctors and over 10 years and it does work for the brown discoloration but have not noticed any improvement on the blue area above my eyelid. When I first had treatment (Ruby, Q-switch, NDYag), there was quite a bit of swelling and bleeding but all subsequent treatments had less bleeding and quicker recovery (2wks). I just had treatment this past Friday (after many years since last treatment) and am working from home recovering now It usually takes at least 1wk before the skin returns to pre-op conditions.
- some treatments used local anesthesia but it is really not painful until you get closer to the eye where it is more sensitive, some doctors cover the eyes with goggles or make you wear a special contact lens
- costs $400-500 per treatment (some doctors treat part of the area while others try to do whole area for each session. (try to push for whole area since recovery time is valuable and you don't want blothy patches)
- I would say my lightening is about 60-70% improvement. It could be better if I stayed out of the sun more and used sunscreen more consistently. Could also be better if I had treatment regularly instead of spread out over many years
- look for an accredited doctor with the right laser for your condition, if you don't notice improvement, you may need a different laser with proper settings

Cover cream:
- I use Dermablend and it is great for ethnic skin tones, lasts all day and doesn't really look like makeup, important for a guy
- there are many shades so for your skin tone, may require two tones and mixing
- winter time my require lighter tone and summer a bit more tan tone
- costs about $40-45 for a small container but lasts for 3/4 of the year for me
- only embarassing part is buying it but these days, everything can be ordered online

Blue discoloration of sclera (white of eye):
- I've had a custom contact lens made that I've worn for special occasions that only covers the white of the eye. works well but you really need two (one for each eye) so they match
- costed me $500 for single lens but mine was also prescription
- it is a very large lens and hard to put on so I only wear it on special occasions 1 to 2 times a year such as weddings and later found it too much work for daily use
- there is recently new surgery where doctors remove sclera from dead donors and transplant to cover the blue. South Korean doctors have successfully done this and I've read it costs from $5000-8000 dollars. I can find link somewhere and research paper
- I cope daily by wearing prescription glasses, some with tinting to hide the eyes and with a thicker frame...I can get away with it since many Asians wear glasses

Tips:
- all my pictures have me in sunglasses
- sunscreen and shading
- growing up, I used to walk on right side of aisles to hide from people from my bad side
- I try not to look left when someone is staring at my face to hide the blue discoloration of my sclera
- for parents with kids with this condition, treat them early because it is a huge psychological and social burden that can literally scar ones life. I wish my parents cared more for my condition and I think I would have had a much better life growing up.

Finally, don't feel alone and depressed. There is hope as you can see and talking to people and listening to other people's stories on forums like these can be very therapeutic!

I have nevus de ota since i was born.. I never discovered the name until recently when i went for a laser treatment for uneven skin tone and dark eye circle.the skin doctor told me that i should go see a doctor to check on my eye condition fearing the possibility of glaucoma.
I search for the name from the WEB and stumbled upon this forum...

Sometimes i do hve problem with self esteem..but i believe that we should gain support from family and friends to boost positive self esteem and accept our weaknesses and flaws.
I am a teacher at a secondary school and i felt blessed everyday because my students love me despite my look.Sometimes i even forgot that i have a birthmark when surrounded by them.however sometimes i also felt insecure and uncomfortable when talking directly to people,i would try to hide away the right side of my face because of the birthmark. I also cannot face other people who have the same bithmark as mine because i felt ashamed,as if i am looking at myself.i would try to avoid them...this is something that i still cannot overcome no matter how hard i try. I felt as if i still cannot accept myself when i'm looking at them.

God has His own plan for us.though i try to avoid the ppl with same birthmark but then i was given a student who look just like me.seeing how tough she is gave me the strength to be even more positive and try to ignore when ppl stare at me.i must be strong to show good example to her and make her see that the birthmark might affect our physical appearance but it didn't change who we are and what we are capable of.

I always study hard to excel in my academic and prove that i am a smart person and no one should underestimate me even though i looked different. I have proved that to them and to myself.and i am proud of myself and my life.

It is true that when you are different,it is not what other ppl think that should matter most,but what u think of urself and what u want other ppl to see in u that u must consider and give most concern of. Be strong and positive and what ppl will see in you will be far beyond your differences..and your birthmark will be something unique that ppl will respect not underestimate...

Phewwwww......finally a place to vent and u dertand just what is happening to my face. Only recently-about a year ago, I was able to put a name to my eye patch, and know what it really was. Up u til then, my parents believed it was scarring due to a hard fall in childhood(say around 5years old) as it was never noticed before. However the scar got darker and wider over the years, through my high school and university days. 2years ago, a consultant dermatologist said it was some sort of skin cancer- melanoma- and I totallllllllly freaked out.
Sorry for the late introduction, I got carried away. I'm of full African decent, 28years old. West African to be precise, but a little fair skinned. I am currently in Dubai,where i have lived or over a year now. A practicing engineer, so Im always on the move. However, I finally got a doctor who I'm willing to try out- scheduled for my first laser treatment this thursday21st by 9am- please tell me It's not gonna get worse,cos im kinda scared.
The nevus of ota I got, is around my left eye, but I got dark circles on both eyes and it's spreading to my scalp on left side- though I have not noticed anything in my left eye yet(didn't know it affected the eye till I got here). I have used tones of make up to cover up.
I intend to post before and after pictures, if I go ahead with laser. Wish you all the best.

I've had nevus of ota since I was about 15. So... I've lived with it for 33 years. Used Dermablend for years, but switched to Coverblend because I find it's not as thick and heavy. Dermablend recently changed their line, I think the Multi-Function Concealer is the closest to what I was using of theirs beforehand. I also use Merle Norman's Ultra Powder Foundation to seal. That pretty much keeps things good all day .
I've had like 6 laser treatments. It has definitely improved and lightened my nevus. The doctor thinks about 3 more treatments should definitely make a difference. I've had the Ruby, Nd Yag & Q Switch Laser used on me. The doctor's latest laser he would use and I have yet to try-- is the Versapulse Laser. It hurts like crazy. These lasers are used to remove tattoos which I heard is much more painful than getting one. Of course, the nevus of ota being around the eye area makes it that much more sensitive. The best way to describe it is like a rubber band hitting your face at close range. But in the end, I have to say it's worth it.

Mission Statement:
An international charitable organization that networks families affected by a vascular birthmark, tumor, or syndrome to the appropriate
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supports research and programs that promote acceptance for individuals with birthmarks.

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